An Aquatic Day Out
by DistantSenpai
Summary: µ's has a day off, so Honoka and Tsubasa go on a date to the aquarium!


Tsubasa looked at the time displayed on her phone, then tapped the screen a few times, navigating to her messages.

The message was definitely sent yesterday. And it certainly included the meeting time, eleven in the morning.

She took a quick peek at the clock again.

Nine minutes past eleven.

She opened her contacts list, and just as she was about to press 'call' on the name, a familiar voice reached her ears.

"Tsubasa-chan!"

Her gaze made its way across the dense crowd, then stopped when she noticed the bundle of orange hair heading towards her.

A few moments later, an out-of-breath Honoka stood in front of her, her hands on her knees as she collected herself.

"S-Sorry, Tsubasa-chan…" Honoka apologized through ragged breaths, and Tsubasa looked down at her, surprised.

Tsubasa rested a hand on Honoka's back, then quickly pulled it away as her eyes widened.

"Honoka? You're covered in sweat…" she murmured, astonished.

Honoka stood up straight after recovering, then rubbed the back of her own head in embarrassment as she laughed softly.

"Well, I overslept, so I ran all the way here…" she explained casually.

Tsubasa looked at her for a few more moments, then reached out and gripped her hand lightly as she started to walk inside the building.

"E-Eh?! Tsubasa-chan?" Honoka stammered, surprised as she almost tripped when Tsubasa began pulling her.

Tsubasa made her way inside the building at a brisk pace, Honoka nearly stumbling as she followed while repeatedly asking her partner to slow down.

The woman in the ticket booth gave them an awkward smile as they passed by after Tsubasa silently handed her their tickets.

The scene looked a bit ridiculous. Though not by much, Tsubasa was shorter than Honoka, and some of the other visitors watched in amusement as the shorter girl insistently led the taller one, despite her complaints.

Thirty seconds later, Tsubasa reached her destination.

The aquarium's souvenir shop.

After a few words with some money exchanged, Tsubasa turned toward Honoka, practically shoving a shirt and towel into her arms.

Honoka tilted her head slightly in confusion as she looked down at the items.

"Huh? What's this?"

Tsubasa reached her hand up and gently ruffled Honoka's hair in response.

"You ran all the way here and ruined your shirt because you wanted to see me, right? Now, go get changed," she replied lightheartedly with a small smile.

Honoka panicked a bit after hearing that, then moved to hold the items between her body and her arm as she reached toward her bag.

"You didn't have to do that! Here, let me pay-" she started, but then Tsubasa moved behind her and started gently shoving her toward a changing room.

"It's fine, it's fine," she insisted, and Honoka looked back at her, conflicted.

"But-"

"Just get changed, okay? Or…"

Tsubasa trailed off as she walked to Honoka's side, then slowly wrapped her arms around Honoka's waist.

"Maybe you want me to come in there with you, hm?" she teased quietly with a smirk.

A blush quickly appeared on Honoka's face, and her eyes darted between Tsubasa's and the changing room door.

"O-Okay, I'll change!" she finally gave up with a stammer, and quickly entered the room, closing the door behind her.

Tsubasa giggled to herself, then leaned against the wall next to the door.

'So adorable…' she thought to herself, then closed her eyes as she waited.

…

"Tsubasa-chan, look, look!" Honoka said with a bright smile as she gently rested her hands on the glass.

Tsubasa turned around, then walked to Honoka's side as she gazed at the large shark.

"Oh, it's close," she replied in surprise.

Their stares followed the creature as it swam, and suddenly, it swam right by the glass next to them.

"Ah!" Honoka exclaimed as she stepped back in a panic, but then tripped and fell.

"Honoka!"

Tsubasa immediately crouched down next to her, lightly holding onto her back as she checked if she was okay.

Honoka didn't pay any mind to it though, as her main issue was with…

"No fair!" she complained as she watched the shark swim away, feeling cheated by the shark's sudden ambush.

Tsubasa turned her attention to the display due to Honoka's shout, then they both glanced at each other, and laughed at the stupidity of what just happened.

…

After visiting a few more exhibits, they decided to take a short break to rest.

They each got something to drink, and relaxed as they sat down next to each other at a table.

"Pretty…" Honoka murmured as she glanced around the room.

In the general areas, there were smaller displays and tanks that contained the more moderate-sized fish. If one were standing right next to the displays in this hall, it'd feel as if they were in the middle of a rainbow with the variety of different colored fish being held.

Tsubasa smiled a bit as she followed Honoka's gaze.

"I was a little worried you wouldn't like it here," Tsubasa admitted quietly as she took a sip from her drink.

Honoka turned toward Tsubasa, confused.

"No way! It's always fun when I'm with you!" she protested, and Tsubasa nearly coughed up her drink in surprise.

"T-Tsubasa-chan?! Are you okay?" she asked worriedly, but Tsubasa waved her hand to indicate she was fine.

After clearing her throat, she turned her attention to Honoka.

"You really don't have any problem saying that stuff, do you?" she asked in disbelief, then paused as she realized she had no room to talk after her earlier suggestion.

Honoka looked at her oddly though.

"Huh? Saying what stuff?"

"Ah, don't worry about it," Tsubasa corrected, then reached out and grabbed Honoka's drink, taking a sip from the straw.

"Eh?! Tsubasa-chan? That's mine," Honoka pointed out simply, and Tsubasa raised a brow.

"You can drink from mine too if you want," she offered, and Honoka's blush from earlier returned in full force.

Honoka peeked at Tsubasa's drink, then quickly shook her head in dismissal.

"I can't! That's…you know…" she trailed off as she averted her eyes.

Tsubasa held her own cheek in her hand as she rested her elbow on the table.

"You don't need to be embarrassed, we kiss all the time," she said nonchalantly, and Honoka joined her own hands together in her lap as she looked back at Tsubasa.

"I know! But it's…different somehow…" Honoka explained poorly, unnaturally timid.

Tsubasa watched her with a smile on her face.

Finding out that Honoka was so prone to getting embarrassed about things like kissing, or being teased, was a surprise for Tsubasa when they first started dating.

It was difficult to imagine that the energetic leader of µ's, who was always so headstrong, and sometimes a little too determined, would practically faint almost every time something romantic happened.

But she didn't mind that side of her.

She noticed Honoka's eyes darting around in response to the situation, refusing to make eye contact with her, and it made her laugh a bit.

"Honoka, look at me," she said calmly, and Honoka obeyed.

After she made sure that nobody was looking at them, Tsubasa removed her hand from her own cheek, instead placing it on Honoka's, as she quickly leaned in and kissed her.

Honoka's eyes widened, and after a short moment, she pulled away, then nervously looked around the room to see if anybody noticed that scene.

Every other visitor in the room was going about their business as usual, with no sign that they had seen anything.

She breathed a sigh of relief after finding out she was in the clear, then turned her attention back to her mischievous partner.

"Tsubasa-chan! What are you doing?!" she questioned in a whisper, her cheeks becoming hotter than before.

Tsubasa looked at her as if she was acting odd.

"What do you mean? You know I can't help it if you look at me like that," she defended herself playfully.

It was honestly true.

Tsubasa didn't know who in the world would be able to resist Honoka if she were looking in their eyes with a deep blush present on her cheeks.

Thankfully, she didn't have to find out, as she was the only one who saw that side of Honoka.

"Wha-!" Honoka was astonished at the answer, unsure how to react.

It felt a bit unfair to say that she was the only one capable of saying cheesy stuff when Tsubasa could just say a line like that.

However, she stopped her thoughts when she recalled their talk a minute ago.

"You're the one who told me to look at you!" she reminded her, and Tsubasa giggled quietly.

…

"Remember to listen to what he says, okay?" Tsubasa said, knowing fully well how over-excited Honoka could get.

"I will, don't worry!" Honoka assured her, then followed the trainer into the designated area.

The man explained the rules before they went any further. Honoka listened carefully, then nodded to say that she understood.

Tsubasa watched with interest as Honoka was led further into the area and was eventually seated on a chair.

Honoka's face was glowing with anticipation as her gaze spanned across the area.

After a few seconds, one of the penguins slowly approached Honoka and the trainer.

It stood in front of the pair curiously, and the trainer told Honoka that she was free to try to pet it.

Honoka slowly reached out her hand, and extremely delicately, brushed her fingers against the penguin's feathers. When it didn't run away, but instead stepped closer, Honoka smiled brightly.

It wasn't long before other penguins in the area became interested and stood around Honoka as well.

"Tsubasa-chan, Tsubasa-chan! Look! They're so cute! Oh, look at this one!" Honoka said excitedly as she pet the birds.

Tsubasa watched warmly with a smile on her face, then the trainer turned toward her.

"Do you want to try it too?" he asked, and Tsubasa was taken by surprise.

"Ah, I don't really know-" she tried to explain, but Honoka turned her attention toward Tsubasa.

"You should do it! It'll be fun!" she assured her, and all Tsubasa could do was sigh and give up.

She didn't know why, but she was never good with animals, birds, or anything non-human. That's why she convinced Honoka to go into the area alone, so she wouldn't possibly scare the penguins and ruin the experience. But if both of them were insisting…

The trainer led Tsubasa to where Honoka was, and the penguins transferred their attention to Tsubasa, looking at her with curiosity, but they still appeared to be on guard.

Tsubasa watched them, slightly hoping for the same reaction that Honoka received, but eventually shrugged after a few short moments.

"See? I just-" she started, but then one of the penguins brushed against her legs, almost akin to a cat.

Tsubasa stared at the bird below her, her eyes wide.

"Oh! I think it likes you!" Honoka said happily with a smile, watching as the penguin demanded attention from Tsubasa.

Shortly after, others followed its lead, and Honoka and Tsubasa were both able to play with them.

Honoka was enthusiastic that Tsubasa was proven wrong about her luck and actually joined her, and Tsubasa acted like an overjoyed kid for the first time in a long while as she played with the penguins, surrounded by their energy.

…

After their time playing with the penguins, they visited a few more exhibits before deciding to finally head home for the day.

They boarded the train and sat side-by-side in a car that was empty aside from them.

"Honoka."

"Hm?"

Honoka turned her head to look at Tsubasa, who was smiling softly at her.

Tsubasa rested her hand on top of Honoka's.

"I had fun today."

Honoka looked down to her hand for a quick moment, then smiled as well as she returned Tsubasa's gaze.

"I had fun too! I was really surprised when you invited me, Tsubasa-chan, but…"

Honoka trailed off as she turned her hand around, then intertwined her fingers with Tsubasa's.

"I loved it! We should go again!" she happily suggested, and Tsubasa nodded.

"We definitely should. But before that…"

Tsubasa turned her body toward Honoka's.

"Can you try dropping the honorific again?" she asked casually, and Honoka blushed a bit.

"It's not that easy," Honoka replied as she averted her eyes.

But after a few moments, she tried it like she was asked.

"T-Tsu…basa…chan," she quickly added on the last piece, and Tsubasa sighed happily, as if she expected it.

"One more time?" she pleaded playfully, and Honoka's blush deepened.

"You know I can't!" Honoka murmured, embarrassed.

Tsubasa smirked at her girlfriend's cute reaction.

"Well, if you can't, then you can at least do the other thing, right?" Tsubasa asked softly, and Honoka slowly returned her gaze to Tsubasa.

She knew what Tsubasa meant by that.

It started ever since Tsubasa began trying to make her drop the honorific. Tsubasa said something about how she wanted to feel closer to her, and using '-chan' felt more like friends.

If she couldn't do it, and Tsubasa was feeling needy, then she was supposed to do something else to compensate.

Of course, she didn't have to. But since it made Tsubasa happy…

"Fine…" Honoka said quietly, as if she was being forced to, but she honestly didn't mind.

She slowly leaned into Tsubasa, repaying the kiss that was given to her earlier.

After a few moments, they broke it, and Tsubasa smiled, satisfied.

"I love you."

Honoka heard Tsubasa's whisper, then smiled as well.

"I love you too."


End file.
